AAA of Texas and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety announced Texas ranked in the top 10 for most deaths related to red light running crashes.
Ranked sixth, Texas tied with Kentucky for per capita deaths due to red light running.
Central Texas News Now spoke with Daniel Armbruster, the Corporate Spokesperson for AAA, who said
"In Texas between 2008 and 2017, red light deaths, running red lights accounted for 971 deaths," said AAA Corporate Spokesperson Daniel Armbruster.
"Nearly half of those deaths were people of occupants of other vehicles other than the one driven by that red light runner so that's a big problem, and affects as far as safety goes on the roadways, so when you look at this study that AAA did we have a growing problem across the US," continued Armbruster.
AAA found that in 46% of crashes, those killed were passengers or people in other vehicles, and 5% of those killed were pedestrians or cyclists. Only 35% of those killed where the drivers who ran the red light.
"This is affecting all age categories across the board, so certainly it's something that drivers need to be aware of and use common sense and defensive driving, those best practices and paying attention when you approach an intersection. Whether you're the person who is approaching it with the light turning yellow, or if the light is green for you, slow down, make sure you know the intersection is clear before you go through," said Armbruster .
Overall, Armbruster explained there are many things to keep in mind while driving.
"These types of crashes with red light runners are both on the rise, so we would advise drivers to never drive intoxicated or in-texticated. Distracted driving kills and certainly when you're approaching an intersection, the only thing you should be focused on is the road ahead of you" said Armbruster .
